Thursday, January 3, 2013

Beef Stroganoff

When I first got married, I made the same hamburger stroganoff (with cream of mushroom soup) that pretty much everyone makes. And then, for our 5th Anniversary, Husband and I went to Red Square in the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and he ordered the beef stroganoff. It had a brothy sauce instead of a creamy one, and it was amazing. He then asked me to find a recipe similar to that to try, and I found one in my Betty Crocker's Cookbook. It's my go-to cookbook. It has nearly everything I could ever want in it.

Here's the recipe. My changes are in {brackets}.
1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin or boneless top loin steak, about 1/2 inch thick {I used a pound of stew beef and cut up the larger chunks with my kitchen sheers}
2 tbsp butter or margarine {olive oil}
1 1/2 c. beef broth {reduced sodium}
2 tbsp ketchup {omitted altogether}
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic {I put in 2 and contemplated more. I love garlic. I also crush it with the flat side of a large chef's knife and then dice it}
3 c. sliced mushrooms (8 oz) {baby bella mushrooms, because they last the longest in my fridge before getting slimy}
1 md. onion, chopped (1/2 c.)
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt {Husband once asked to try it without the sour cream, and I keep forgetting to put it in. It's good with or without}

served over hot cooked noodles or rice {wide egg noodles here}

While I remembered the green beans today (yay!) I forgot the crunchy chow mein noodles we usually put on top (The Red Square version had crispy fried shoestring potatoes and we liked that texture). I nearly always forget something. I blame it on the "mommy brain."

This blog isn't anything really special. I'm not some amazing home chef or anything. It's just that Husband takes leftovers to work for lunch, and he is constantly being asked for my recipes. So I figured this would be the easiest way for his interested coworkers to find out how I made what we had for dinner last night.